Monday, January 06, 2014

I received a call that the next version of the contact had arrived, and If I could come in and try it on.So, there I went(Remember.. The latest incarnation was that I could see, but only really sharp close up and not great at all… (read blurry as hell) when things got at arm’s length….)

Well, this was definitely and improvement on the distance thing, in fact at one point I could even see Shop signs across the road from the Optometrists office in the back in their Shop- Unit. Which promised something I guess. And had me at least back to driving conditions again…

The reading “close-up” has become slightly worse though, but not as much that it bothers me, just less sharp, and in certain case I will have to revert back to wearing Specs once again… All cool, and much better than seeing not much else at all in any case….

But now, how am I adapting to my new lens??? well…It’s weird. I was used to a hard and rigid lens, and although a lot of KC’s patients hate wearing them for me they worked ok, I had some depth issues because of it, but overall I cope pretty well.

These softer lenses however took a bit to get used to and when it concern wind and air-condition, it realy dries my eyes out, and its actually makes them more sensitive as in a weird way the “wind” seems to press on the lens itself a bit and moving the shoe a bit on occasions I guess..

But hey, I’ll get used to it, the overall viewing experience is what matters, and that itself seems to be quite good indeed… and I think the depth issues have been greatly reduced as well.. Fingers crossed..Might just have to go to test that out propperly and do some hiking again.. (-:

But has it settled?Well, yes, but had some issues along the way that my optometrist explained away and now I’ve accepted my fate and its working just now, so hey.. .:

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Have a read of this email convo with my Optometrist:

"Hi.

Just a quick mail as to how the experience with the latest lens is...

Mostly ok, but do have some issues transitioning from looking away from me, to reading straight in front of me.. Sometimes it feels like if i move my head, that the contact is slight slow to follow my eye if that makes sense.Also, on occasion its feels like there a water drop in front of my iris, but then when blinking a bit more, it stabilizes..

the difficulty in transitioning from 1 distance to another that you experiencing is called “Accommodation Infacility”, which has nothing to do with the lens power.

Its part of the aging process, it happens to all 35 years old and above, and by 40 you will get “Presbyopia”.

Lenses tend to stick to steepest part of your cornea right after you blink, then the gravity pulls it down after a short while, that’s why right after blink, your upper eye lid grabs the lens and it drops slowly to your cornea again.

Tears accumulate behind the lens and it’s normal, if no tears beneath the lens, then it will be big problem as lens suction to cornea happen, which lead to dryness and staining due to cell death.

I reckon we can stick to this parameter and power, you need the reading glasses due to your age, not because of the lens power. Thanks."

----------------------------------I guess, in other words: your stuck with it buddy (-: It’s the best we can do just now..

"Looking up gives light, although at first it makes you dizzy." – Rumi

Yeah, well...... although I’m pretty sure Rumi meant something very deep with this, I’m afraid for me it’s in fact, less metaphorical, and more physical….

In early 2012 I got diagnosed with Keratoconus, (often abbreviated to "KC") a degenerative eye disorder in which the normally “ping pong ball” shaped eyeball reshapes the front of the eye into a “rugby ball shape”, via corneal thinning.

This results in significant visual impairment like distortion, multiple images, streaking, ghosting and sensitivity to light and many other issues.

Unfortunately, It took a while to get this diagnosed and here I’m hoping to let you in on all the stuff leading up to finally finding out what’s wrong, and how my life changed because of it.. the good, the bad, and all the other stuff that life throws at you… with or without Keratoconus.

Why? well, I hit a stage where things went a bit dark, both visually and mentally and my Doctor advised me to write it "out of my system" , which I did, but then when things went better, I sort of left it at that.

Until, quite recently, I had a conversation with a friend (apparently a frequent blogger herself) about blogging, and after mulling it over I figured resurrecting an old blog space I had used many years ago, might not be a bad thing, as you never know who else is looking to find out about life with KC...

Whereas, when I got diagnosed, I found a lot of factual information, but not necessarily what living with KC is...

now, be ware that of course my story is only one of many, i experience things different then fellow KC-ers, sometimes more severe than others, sometimes less... This is me with KC.

*Please be aware that the timeline on this is going to be slightly out of whack on occasions, as i'm basically re-telling my situation from months ago, bringing it upto date step by step...